The joy of magazine subscriptions

Santa was very generous last year, and gave the five of us a different magazine subscription. My husband received National Geographic and Mr 8 received the kids’ version. Mr 14 now subscribes to Slam, the US basketball magazine, Miss 11 receives Teen Breathe, a new magazine for tweens and younger teenage girls and I am the lucky recipient of Flow magazine.

Flow is a magazine that takes its time, celebrating creativity, imperfection and life’s little pleasures. It comes from the Netherlands, and always has a little paper giveaway – a slim notebook perhaps or a set of calendar cards or gift cards.

My first issue came in the mail this week – it felt like Christmas again!

I’m savouring every article, and reading slowly. There’s always four sections – feel connected, live mindfully, spoil yourself and simplify your life. Flow uses gorgeous illustrations from talented illustrators and designers around the world. I love the creative design, the beautiful papers, the thoughtful articles on creativity and mindfulness. This is not a perfectly curated magazine of instagram-worthiness – it’s about real people doing their best and celebrating small delights while living creatively.

Miss 11 has thoroughly enjoyed Teen Breathe – there’s an adult version called Breathe. It’s Australian, and focuses on mindfulness. The tagline is – Be happy, be brave, be kind, be yourself. In the current launch issue, there’s an article with instructions and hints on yoga poses, meditation, origami flowers, starting a new school, managing social media – all the important aspects of a teen’s life. I think it’s a really gentle way of explaining these concepts – a bit like a kind auntie talking about it instead of your Mum nagging you! There are gorgeous illustrations and the photos rarely show the model’s full face so the girls photographed look like someone you might know, instead of being model material.

Basketball-obsessed Mr 14 has read his Slam cover to cover, with articles on various players, interviews with well-known stars and lots of statistics. There’s always a poster of a basketballer.

Both versions of National Geographic have kept my husband and Mr 8 happy. The kids’ version is done well, with quizzes, small boxes of bite-size information and collectible posters. According to the latest quiz, I am most like a pygmy hippo! And of course, the adult version as you might expect, is full of beautiful photography and interesting articles.

And we have a whole year of waiting for our magazines to arrive in the letterbox! Go Santa!

Comments

Hey Karen!
I always remember my parents giving their friends the gift of magazine subscriptions, when I was younger.. they never got me one haha
Speaking of magazines have a look thin the March edition of “Modern Wedding” (I believe it’s Launched on the 19th) there should be an article with “Assistant Stylist – Neill Murray” !!!